In a recent Interview (done by LEVEL) with Fumito Ueda, he speaks about how he wants to develop games, but he also mentions some other interesting things. Here are some translated parts from this interview done by me.

My highest hope is to entertain people. I know that many points out how emotional my games are, and I see that I can touch a gamers heart by stringing their emotions. To get someone to cry is never a sure option, but if I create an entertaining experience by using that tool then I have succeed

A Strong reason why I choose to develop my games like this is the game mechanics. Ico has to be weak, the boy in Shadow of the Colossus the same way, or you would never be able to identify yourself with them. It is about getting the trustworthiness to the puzzles and the game world. A weak character makes you getting away with a puzzle that seems simple since the game is consistent. A physical strong character just had been able to defeat the colossus with pure muscle strength.

I always want to utilize the maximum technical abilities in my games. Before we develop our games, I try to calculate how close the reality we can get in order to work from that. Reality is really the keyword, then we decide by the actual limits (of the hardware) what kind of game esthetically we will make. I love and hate the technical limits, it is like a catch 22 for me. If we dont have a bar to work from it is hard to do something special out of it. But if we do have a technical bar we can never outdo it. That is why my games have a bit different aesthetic profile.

I get my inspiration from music, books and movies, but most of it from games. I play a lot of games, and I look from a very critical view of the games I play.
Ueda suddenly talks about GTA IV, and he mentions that the biggest problem with the game is the lack of innovative things in the game. The graphic style impresses, but not the base premise, which is exactly the same as the predecessors.

As soon as Udea is done dismissing one of the hottest games this gen as boring it is time for the next one. On the question if he has played Super Mario Galaxy and the celebration to shadow of the colossus as one of the stages implied, Ueda smiles.

-Yes I have played it, it was hard to not to since it was rumored that Miyamoto-san was inspired by me. But I had expected more, that segement, was like the rest of the game not so fun as it could had been. I think the fans made a big deal out of nothing when they said Miyamoto had stolen from me. The thing I am critical over isnt that they didn't borrow anything that isn't unique for my game, but that they didn't make more fun stages out of it.

Ueda thens talks a bit more about his games, but the interview is fucking huge so I am just going to translate some random quotes from it.

The horse riding in SotC is something I have thought about a lot. Many wanted me to add enemies, but I felt that would look too much like other games on the market.

My original intention isn't really to create something artistically , I think that has to do with my own art background. I cannot neglect myself to develop games that I think is beautiful. The strongest driving force is still that the games should be entertaining, exciting and fun to play. If then people think my games are artistically beautiful, then that is the greatest compliment.

To leave something after me, would been very big, but I dont want my games to be in a museum, I rather hope that they will find my games in 100 years and play them. It would been the final proof that I make something timeless. It would been my legacy.

@soldat7: the level with a planet-sized robot firing bullet bills at you, I think.

I expect many strange posts coming from those who think Ueda is a genius and SMG an incredible game, even though he essentially said that SMG did not feature as many SotC-esque stages as he would have liked.

In fairness though, the translation looks fishy in some places. I think there's a negative form missing somewhere.

- Of course I have played it, I couldn't resist after hearing that Miyamoto-san was inspired by me. But I have to say that I had expected a little more. That particular level (and the rest of the game) wasn't as entertaining as it could have been. I think the press and the fans made too much of a fuss about him (Miyamoto) borrowing from me. And the atmosphere on the internet became a little heavy. What I'm critical against isn't the fact that they borrowed something that actually isn't even originally from me, but the fact that they didn't make anything more interesting out of it.

I really didn't get a SotC vibe from Galaxy at all, even the scaling of larger objects, simply because the platforming and gravitation effects made for a totally different and more free experience, at least in comparison.

This is actually the first time I've heard anybody relate SotC to Galaxy at all. Twilight Princess and SotC plenty of times, sure, but Galaxy?

Ugh, is it not possible to have a discussion of a game's merits without comparing it to another? Him saying that he didn't think SMG was as entertaining as it was made out to be has no bearing on how fun SotC is. GTA4's sales have little bearing on how fun it is to an individual.

Ugh, is it not possible to have a discussion of a game's merits without comparing it to another? Him saying that he didn't think SMG was as entertaining as it was made out to be has no bearing on how fun SotC is. GTA4's sales have little bearing on how fun it is to an individual.

It's the only argument they have, despite that a person is just stating his own opinion. I guess that to some, GTAIV is a awesome game only because it sold a fuckton of copies.

He's not elaborating on anything, so I can't take his opinion seriously on SMG. But I love his development team for their vision and inspiration and can't wait for their new project (loved ICO but SoTC fell a little short for me).

I really didn't get a SotC vibe from Galaxy at all, even the scaling of larger objects, simply because the platforming and gravitation effects made for a totally different and more free experience, at least in comparison.

This is actually the first time I've heard anybody relate SotC to Galaxy at all. Twilight Princess and SotC plenty of times, sure, but Galaxy?